Portable collapsible power-distribution tower for electric lawn mowers



April 6,1948.

E. H. LANGE PORTABLE COLLAPSIBLE POWER-DISTRIBUTION TOWER 'FOR ELECTRICLAWN-MOWERS Filed July 2, 1947 WWW. INVENTOR Patented Apr. 6, 1948PORTABLE COLLAPSIBLE POWER-DISTRI- BUTION TOWER FOR ELECTRIC LAWN MOWERSEdward Lange, Baltimore, Md.

ApplicationJuly 2, 1947, Serial No. 758,588

chines over a lawn, and for reducing the opposition to maneuverabilityof such machines introduced by an electric-power supply line necessarilyextending from the source of electric power to a lawn mowing machine,and requiring frequent rearrangement.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a structure'havinga high-degree ofieconomy and ease of temporary erection, removal, and

storage, and providing a light-weight facility for controlling thedisposition of the electric-power supply line over a large area ofoperation of an electric-power operable lawn'mowing machine.

Another object of this invention is to provide a simple and economicalground-pin means for supporting a tower-structure and for providingswivel means for accommodating angular .displacements of thesupplyiline.

A further object istoprovide "a collapsible tower so that advantageousheights for substantial ground-coverage by the lawn :mowing machine canbe easily employed.

Still another object is to provide simple means for thequick-disposal'of the large length'of supply line without a tangle,including means upon the tower-structure for holding a winding of thesupply line.

These objects andothers, will be better understood by reference to thefollowing specification, and to the accompanying-drawings.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 illustrates a complete assembly of the erectedpower-distribution tower for controlling displacements of :the supplyline to an electrically operable lawn mowing machine, and as temporarilyerected for purposes of lawn cutting.

Fig. 2 illustrates details of the ground-pin; Fig. 3 illustrates-acollapsed form of the structure of Fig. 1 for storage purpose, andFig.4'i1lu5- trates in diagram form an electrically operable lawn mowingmachine connected to an erected power-distribution tower such ascletailed in Fig. 1.

Referring to the-drawings, at 4 is a ground-spin having an annular ringor washer-member la tightly fitting thereon; the ground-pin 4 is a rodof circular section, and has the end 419 out at an angle suitable foreasy penetration of the ground by impact thereon, The washer-member tois fastened to the ground-pin 4 by bur-ringover into an indentation inthe ground-pin, or by Welding, at the under side of the washer- 2Claims. (01.242-475) member adjacent the pointed end ib and indicated bytheposition do, or by other well known means; the washer-member do islocated between :the extremities of the ground-pin 4, the belowgroundportion of the ground-pin 41 being of adequate length to support thestructure hereafter described, and against lateral pull upon the supplyline 6. likewise the above-ground portion 'of the ground-pin 4 betweenthe washer- .member 4a and theend of ground-pin lopposite to 4b is ofadequate length for this purpose.

At is a lower tubular-member, having a hole la through the wall oftubular-member 1, near one end of this-member, and at the opposite endof tubular-member l a sleeve-member 2 is securely fastenedconcentrically with the axis of tubular-member I, and extending beyondthe end of tubular member I to which it is fastened. Sleeve-member 2serves as a socket for holding the upper tubular-member 3; the uppertubularmember 3 may beer the same outer-diameter as :lowertubular-emember I, and sleeve-member 2 serves to providea sliding lit toaccommodateth'e upper tubular-member 3 and securely hold the .uppertubular-member for the purposes of this invention. At 3a is an angularofi-set in the upper tubular-member 3, and at St just below said angularoff-set is a hole through the wall of upper tubular-member 3, underneaththe projection of tubularmember 3 laterally. Tubularmembers i and 3 arepreferably thin-walled con- 'duit, such as light weight-electricalconduit, normally of steel, or maybe of other material such as aluminum,and the angular off-set 311 may be effected by bending thetubular-member 3 near one of its extremities. A pulley 5 free to turnabout shaft 5a, and mounted in the pulley-housing 51) is attached to theextremity of the angular off-set 3a, and securely fixed to tubularmember3., .for example by bolt 50 through the housing 5b of pulley 5, andthrough tubularmember 3, in such a manner that the plane of pulley!) issubstantially coincident with. the plane of angular cit-set 3a throughtubular-member 3. The housing l of pulley 5 is understood. to provide aguard around the pulley 5 for aiding in confining the supply line 6 tothe pulley-groove, in a manner well understood; this may be .for examplea T-shaped housing with the stem of the T containing the bolt 50, andthe guard means extending to ninety-degrees on each side of the bolt 5c.The endof tubular-member -3 opposite the angular oif-set 3a to whichpulley 5 is attached, is supported in the sleeve-member 2 bytubular-member ii, the tubular member I being adapted to fit looselyover the above-ground portion of the ground-pin 4, and to ride upon thewasher-member 4a. The supply line 6 has the plug-attachment ED forconnection to the electric motor of the electrically operable lawnmowing machine. When the power-distribution tower is erected for use,ground-pin 4 is driven into the ground [0, for example by means of ahammer, and in a suitable central location in relation to the ground tobe covered by the lawn mowing machine and the known range of thepoWer-distribu tion tower.

At 1 is a lower pulley means, having the shaft l'a upon which pulley lis free to turn, and the pulley housing lb which supports the shaft laand also serves as a guard to aid in confining thesupply line 6 to theunder side' of pulley 1.

Attached to the pulley housing lb is a weight means such as 8, forstabilizing the lower pulley means against upsetting when a sudden slackis introduced upon the supply line 6, and for positlvely lowering thepulley l with any displacement of the lawn mowing machine toward thetubular-member I, and such that the distance between plug-attachment 6band pulley is shortened. The pulley-housing lb for pulley I, may forexample be a T-shaped housing with the stern of the T projectingdownward, and the weight means 8 is securely attached to this downwardlyprojecting stem for example by the bolt 8a. The stem of the T-shapedhousing 5b of pulley 5 is understood to project upwardly, and the pulley5 to be suspended below the angular off-set So by the bolt 50.

The pulleys 5 and l, and the respective housings, are understood to belight-weight structures, for example pressed sheet aluminum, and to havesufiicient diameter so as to produce only a gradual flexing of'thesupply line 6 in operation. The supply line 6 passes from theplug-attachment 6?) over the top of pulley 5, under the bottom of pulley1, and through the hole 3b near the top of tubular-member 3 to theinside of this tubular-member, and continues on through tubular-member lto the outside of tubular member I through the hole la above theground-pin 4, at which end the plug 6a is attached. Pulley 5 is attachedwith a radial distance from tubularmember 3 greater than the diameter ofpulley 1, and so as to accommodate the pulley 1 adjacent thetubular-members I or 3, and between the pulley '5 and thetubular-members I or 3, and the supply line 6 leaves and enters thepulley 1 so that there is no cross-over of these lines.

At 9 and 9a are respectively upper and lower projections attached to thetubular-member I for holding a winding of the supply line 6 when theplug-attachment 6b is detached from the lawn mowing machine; by pullingthe outstretched supply line 6 extending from the pulley 5, the pulley lis raised to close proximity with pulley 5. The supply line 6 may thenbe tightly wound upon the projections 9 and 90: to prevent entanelementof the supply line. The upper tubularmember 3 may then be disengagedfrom the sleeve 2 and lower tubular member I for purposes of storage;the slack of the supply line 6 through the inside of tubular-members land 3 is sufiicient for this purpose. This collapsed form is shown inFig. 3.

The ground-pin 4 may be easily removed from one position in the groundand reinserted in another; the tower may then be mounted in this newlocation, thereby extending the field of action of the mower, Preferablytwo such 4 ground-pins may be utilized for simplifying the moving of thetower to a new location, and for avoiding entanglement of the supplyline while moving the tower; this makes it unnecessary to extract theoriginal ground-pin before the tower is set up in the new location.

Fig. 4 illustrates an electrically operable lawn mowing machine l2connected by supply line 6- to an erected power-distribution tower suchas heretofore detailed with reference to Fig. l, and having the plug toconnected to the line H which line is understood to be connected with apower source.

In operation, a semi-circular area, may be cut on one side of the tower,and then the comple- -mentary semi-circular area on the other side ofthe-tower; in this manner winding of the supply line about the tower inthe vicinity of plug 6a is avoided. Swivel action of the tower upon thewasher-member 4a permits the pulley 5 to maintain an edgewise directiontoward the lawn mowing machine under operating conditions.

With the pulley 'l' at the ground level, a length of supply lineconnected to plug-attachment 6b and extending to the pulley 5 equal toor greater than the total height of the tower is employed; it will thusbe seen that an efiective radius of operations of nearly three times thetower-height may be obtained by this means, and that a ten foot towerwith only a five-foot collapsed length, will provide coverage of acircular area approximating sixty feet in diameter.

Having described how my invention is carried out, it will be apparent toone skilled in the art that modifications may be made in the particularorganization shown and described without departing from the scope of myinvention, as set' forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a portable collapsible distribution tower for controllingdistribution of a power-supply line to an electrically propelled lawnmowing machine, a portable ground-pin swivel means for vertically andlaterally supporting said tower comprising a cylindrical rod with awashermember concentrically fastened thereto, a collapsible poleincluding an upper tubular-member and a lower tubular-member, said lowertubularmember being adapted to telescope with the above-ground portionof said cylindrical rod and to bear upon said washer-member, said uppertubular-member being adapted to be supported on said lowertubular-member by a sleeve means attached to one of saidtubular-members, and having an angular oil-set at its upper extremitysupporting an upper pulley suspended from said angular off-set; a lowerpulley means including a weight means attached to said lower pulleymeans, an electric supply-line means for extending from said lawn mowingmachine to a source of electric power, including a portion of supplylinefrom said lawn mowing machine extending over the top of said upperpulley, under the bottom of said lower pulley means, through a hole insaid upper tubular-member and through the inside of each of saidtubular-members to the outside of said lower tubular-member, through ahole in said lower tubular-member, and means for holding a winding ofsaid supply-line, including a projection at each end upon one of saidtubular-members.

2. In a supply-line distribution tower for an electrically operable lawnIIlOWillg' machine, in combination, a portable ground-pin means forsupporting said tower, a collapsible pole including an uppertubular-member and a lower tubular-member, said lower tubular-memberbeing adapted to rotatably fit upon an above-ground portion of saidground-pin means, said upper tubular-member being adapted to besupported on said lower tubular-member by a sleeve means attached to oneof said tubular-members, and having an angular off-set at its upperextremity supporting an upper pulley suspended from said angularoif-set; a lower pulley means including a weight means attached to saidlower pulley means, an electric supply-line means for extending fromsaid lawn mowing machine to a source of electric power, including aportion of supplyline from said lawn mowin machine extending over thetop of said upper pulley, under the bottom of said lower pulley means,through a hole in said upper tubular-member and through the inside ofeach of said tubular-members to the outside of said lowertubular-member, through a hole in said lower tubular-member, and meansfor holding a winding of said supply-line including a projection at eachend upon one of said tubular-members.

EDWARD H. LANGE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 508,534 Thyll Nov. 14, 18931,685,729 Gore Feb. 3, 1914 1,411,584 Peters Apr, 4, 1922 1,461,323 7Peters July 10, 1923 1,643,656 Haselton Sept. 26, 1927 1,933,163 CoplenOct. 31, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 2,045 Australia May27, 1926

